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Ahad, Julai 18, 2004

petikan The star Online 18 Julai 2004How do you go about making a movie that has become the costliest ever in Malaysian film-making history? PHILIP GOLINGAI finds out from the director and producers of Puteri Gunung Ledang.

EPIC. Ambitious. Authentic. In the movie world, these words are dangerous. Dangerously expensive, that is.

But that was what Enfiniti Productions wanted when it decided to make a movie based on a popular local legend set in the 15th century. In order to come up with an epic that was ambitious and looked authentic, the company set aside RM7mil for its maiden effort.

When word got out, that princely sum – the biggest ever for a local production – stunned the industry and public. Many months later and poised for an August 26 release date in cinemas, Puteri Gunung Ledang (PGL) is indeed the most expensive movie ever made by a Malaysian production company. But it’s not a RM7mil movie but a RM15mil blockbuster.

That’s a lot of money when you consider that typically, a local movie costs only RM800,000 to RM2mil. Recent so-called big budget films – Embun and Paloh, costing about RM3.5mil each – were government-funded.

RM15mil is also a staggering figure if you compared it to the total box office takings of all 10 Malay movies screened in 2002, which was about RM18.5mil.

But that is the price of ambition. The prime movers behind PGL, executive producer Datuk Shazalli Ramly and producer Tiara Jacquelina, who also plays the central character, were determined to have a product that offered a fighting chance at winning international audiences too.

“We didn’t want to make a movie just for the locals. That is shiok sendiri (pleasing oneself). You will not go anywhere with it commercially. We need more eyeballs and Malaysia, with only 500,000 cinema-goers, would not be sufficient. We want to screen the movie world-wide,” says Shazalli.

Tiara Jacquelina adds: “It will pave the way for Malaysia to be on the world map of filmmaking.”

And the man they entrusted with the job of spending all that money to create that desired masterpiece is director Saw Teong Hin, who takes pains to point out that, hey, it wasn’t all that much if you compared it to Western-made blockbusters.

“RM15mil sounds like a lot of money. But given the film we were trying to make, it is not. Everybody just looked at the figure and said ‘Oh, so much money.’ But we had to achieve a lot with that RM15mil. Look at Troy – it costs about US$200mil (RM760mil) to make.

“A lot of people have jumped to hasty conclusions. If you use your common sense and think about – period drama, 15th century – it means you have to build your sets from scratch and create your own costumes and that takes money,” says Saw.

He insists confidently that movie-goers will understand and appreciate the level of technical expertise that went into PGL when it is released.

“It is equivalent to a standard Hollywood film which, regardless of whether you liked it or not, would have very high production quality and good sound and special effects.

“If you use that as a benchmark, (PGL) comes close to that. So at US$3.9mil (or RM15mil), to be able to do an epic drama is an amazing achievement. Because even an independent, small character-driven film in America would cost about US$5mil to US$10mil.”

Saw reveals that they strove to get the best they could for PGL: “We did live sound with no dubbing, we had actual construction of the sets, we did CG (computer graphic) in 2K resolution because most local movies using CG do it in (lower) TV resolution quality.

For the sake of authenticity, director and producers refused to take shortcuts.

“We could have gone to the Malacca Museum (to film the palace scenes). But to the right, you would see electric poles and to the left were traffic lights.”

In the end, they built the set for a 15th century Malacca palace.

Says co-producer Mini Purushot: “The sets were important. We could not just go to a shopping complex and shoot a scene there. We were showing Malacca’s golden era. So the palace had to be big and grand.’’

The task of building the sets for the Malacca Palace, a Majapahit Palace and the princess’ hut was the responsibility of production designer Haznizar Ithnin. But the grandest set was Malacca town, which had not just the palace, but a village, harbour, mosque and bridge. The location was an open area measuring 300m by 450m in a oil palm estate near Batu Pahat, Johor.

To ensure authentic and accurate depiction of 15th century structures, Haznizar spent two months researching the architecture by poring over books and visiting museums.

Enfiniti Productions also had to recreate authentic clothing for three cultures of that time - Malaccan , Majapahit and Demak. That required extensive research and creativity, says costume designer Mahyuddin Sidik.

“For example, Sultan Mahmud Shah’s outfit was based on my reading of books such as Sejarah Melayu and (extrapolating from) the contemporary garments worn by the sultans today,” he explains.

To illustrate the difficulty of making an epic, Saw uses the example of the scene where the princess of Gunung Ledang, Gusti Putri Retno Dumilah played by Tiara Jacquelina, leaves Java for Malacca.

“It was really, really difficult to do the sailing shot because we had a barge out in the sea with the cast, crew and cameras. Your timing must be right as you could not dictate which way the waves were going. And because we were shooting off Pulau Perhentian, we could not anchor the barge on the coral reefs so everything was adrift. We needed many days for a shot that lasts only about 20 seconds on the screen.

“That is why many people don’t do this sort of thing because it is hard. But I wanted to take up the challenge. To the producers’ credit, they shared my vision. They could have easily said ‘Forget it’ and they would have saved time and money.’’

The script also required scale. ``There is nothing that can replace scale,” explains Saw. For example, to do a war scene you need a minimum number of people (referring to the battle between the warriors of the Demak and Majapahit Empires).

``In the planning stage, we cut down on the number of extras to what we thought would be sufficient. But when we went to the site, it was amazing how the people were swallowed up so quickly by the space. So we had to add more people so that it did not look cartoonish.’’

The filmmakers had to recruit extras on the spot by going to different villages and telling the penghulus that they were shooting a movie and needed people in the scenes.

Adds Purushot, “We used more than 500 extras and that meant providing them with costumes, food and an allowance.’’

The war scenes also required 100 horses and riders, not to mention 50 children, 30 cows, 50 goats and 50 chickens – a veritable zoo!

“We had burning houses and stunt men on fire with six cameras rolling at the same time,” recalls Saw with relish.

Foreign expertise was brought too and the international crew included B.G. Magendran, the art director who oversaw the set building carried out by his team of skilled builders and craftsmen from India; Jason Kwan, the director of photography from Hong Kong and Purushot who was a television producer for Sun TV and Surya TV in India.

The filming took cast and crew to several locations all over Peninsular Malaysia including Tasik Kenyir, Cameron Highlands, Lata Kijang waterfall in Perak, Sungai Kesang in Johor and Pulau Indah in Selangor.

This is also the first time a Southeast Asian movie used digital intermediate (DI) technology. “With DI, film is transferred into (computer) data and we do the corrections – colour grading and visual effects – in that format before transferring it into film,’’ explains Purushot.

Over 20 minutes of visual effects, totalling more than 200 shots, were used in the 155-minute movie. For example, when Hang Tuah (M. Nasir) searches for Gusti Putri Retno Dumilah, he follows a trail of seven butterflies which are computer-generated graphics inserted seamlessly into the scene.

For the music score, the production house used live instruments. “Of course we could have done it with a synthesizer.

It would have been cheaper but we wanted to go as high quality as we could,’’ says Saw.

The film, which was shot in 94 days during a nine-month period starting in January 2003, has all the proportions of an epic. But Saw is quick to point out that it is “huge” not just for the sake of merely looking impressive.

“It is huge in a functional way,’’ he says, adding “when you see the movie, you will be surprised that it only cost RM15mil.’’

Let’s hope it’ll be a pleasant surprise for Malaysians and the rest of the world.

“In terms of literature she exists but the texts are mythical. There are no archaeological or anthropological evidence that suggest she was real,’’ he explains.

He adds that up to now the writer of Hikayat Hang Tuah, which was written in 1621 remains unknown. As for Sejarah Melayu, “we can only guess that Tun Lanang wrote it in 1612.”

Typical of folklore, there are several versions of the legend. In some, the princess is not even human but a fairy and that she continues to live on Gunung Ledang (or Mount Ophir, the highest peak in Johor) to this day.

The basic premise remains the same: She was a beautiful princess who made her home on the mountain, either to escape an arranged marriage or to withdraw from the world after her beloved husband died.

But her great beauty drew the interest of the Sultan of Malacca – sometimes identified as Sultan Mansor Shah (1456-77) but in the movie, it’s Mahmud Shah (who lost Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511) – who sent his warriors, including the legendary Hang Tuah, to ask her hand in marriage.

Although the legend has no hint of a romance between the warrior and princess, it becomes central to the movie.

But the part about the legend that is consistent and most memorable in all versions are her bizarre conditions for marriage: a gold and silver bridge from Malacca to Ledang, seven trays of mosquitoes’ hearts, another seven of mites’ hearts, a jug or barrel of areca nut juice, a barrel of tears, one cup of the sultan’s blood and one of his son’s.

The sultan fulfilled all but the last demand; he couldn’t bring himself to kill his son, which was the princess’ sly intention since she did not want to marry him.

“Either there were no texts from that era or they had been destroyed,’’ Saw says. ``But that gave rise to a very interesting situation because (historians and books) have very different views on the legend. Some say Hang Tuah went up the mountain, some say he did not.

That gave us room to improvise because there is no definitive version.”

IT’s not just the film-makers who are hopeful and excited about Puteri Gunung Ledang.

Dr Wan Zawawi Ibrahim, a professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Malay and Civilization, for one, is rooting for a movie can stand on par with, say, Thailand’s best, the critically-acclaimed epic, The Legend of Suriyothai.

He also views PGL as a refreshing change from the 90% of Malay movies that are “like variety shows”.

Film studies and scriptwriting lecturer Hassan Mutalib, “really hopes this is going to be a film that will be noticed by the world like Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, which won the grand prize in the 1951 Venice International Film Festival.’’

Film critic Saniboey Mohd Ismail says many of the 16 movies released this year so far, like Bicara Hati and Bintang Hati, were very poor fare.

“Kuliah Cinta was also bad. But people wanted to watch that kind of stuff and it made RM4.1mil. I teach film-making in UiTM and if you are talking about aesthetics, that is not the kind of movie that you want to use as a good example of film-making. U-Wei’s Kaki Bakar has aesthetic value and it was shown in Cannes but Kuliah Cinta will not go anywhere outside Malaysia.”

Having seen PGL, albeit not fully completed then, at a private screening over two months ago, Saniboey is in a position to give his impressions: “Technically, the movie is one of a kind. I have never seen a Malay movie done like that. It is like watching Musa (the South Korean historical epic) - very serious and grand.”

However, Saniboey adds that he “could not feel the love between Puteri Gunung Ledang and Hang Tuah.”

Still, he believes the audience may overlook that aspect because they would be amazed by the film’s technical wizardry.

Dr Wan Zawawi, who also writes on Malaysian films, says moviegoers will look forward to PGL because it is the first big budget Malay movie. But he is unsure whether it will make money. He gives the example of Paloh, which was produced at RM3.5mil, but earned only RM142,645.

“The quality was good. But it was hard to understand as it played with themes that are not commercial. And Malaysian audience do not like to be challenged. They don’t go for thinking movies,’’ he says.

He explains how the budget of RM7mil was increased 100%. “We increased the budget after I went to Rome in early 2002. Our original plan was to make a movie for Asean consumption – Malaysia and Indonesia – but when I was discussing the concept (in Rome) I realised that there was an opportunity for us to go for the international market.”

But that meant doubling the budget to give the director the means to improve the cinematography, which Shazalli says is key to a film’s success in the international market.

Enfiniti has worked out the math: it expects to recoup RM7mil from the box office takings in Malaysia and Indonesia. And the parent company of Enfiniti, Encorp Media Group, which has a controlling stake in ntv9, a television station, will use its contacts with television stations around the world to sell Puteri Gunung Ledang.

“I am in touch with 1,200 TV stations CEOs and if I can sell the movie for US$20,000 (RM76,000) to each station ... you do the calculation,’’ says Shazalli, who is also CEO of Encorp, adding that ntv7 spends RM80mil a year buying programmes.

“I bought an Iranian movie for US$20,000 so similarly somebody in Iran has to buy my movie now. It is an advantage for us to have a TV station.

“Malaysians have to understand that to go into something like this, you need a business plan. Our returns should not be based on the collection of one box office (in Malaysia). We are global now. And we can sell to the world the TV rights, cinema rights, VCDs and DVDs of Puteri Gunung Ledang,’’ he adds.

WHEN Tiara Jacquelina was looking for a director for the movie she was producing, she wanted someone who was a perfectionist.

She found that person in Saw Teong Hin, even though he had never made a film.

“(Mamat Khalid, the scriptwriter, and I) had a list of directors and we watched everybody’s work. Teong Hin had no film to his name but I have known him since I was a teenager when I was in the advertising circle,’’ she says.

And she knew that Saw was the “greatest fusspot’’ when it came to details. “I like that as it means that he is a perfectionist. It shows he has pride in his work,’’ she explains.

But her choice was criticised by certain quarters in the Malaysian film industry and by some Malay newspapers columnists. Saw’s race was questioned: He was a Chinese directing a Malay movie.

“It should not matter whether you are a Chinese, Malay, Indian or Eurasian,’’ says Tiara Jacquelina. “Sense and Sensibility (based on Jane Austen’s novel) was directed by Ang Lee (a Taiwanese). The Last Emperor was directed by an Italian.’’

Saw does not understand the thinking behind that controversy: “I am a Malaysian. I know the legend. I know the language. My position is: Why don’t you wait until you see the film and then criticise me if you don’t like it or praise me if you do,’’ says the director of award-winning music videos, short films and television commercials.

As for picking the cast, Tiara Jacquelina, Saw and Mamat all had their own wish list of who should play which character. But there were certain unanimous choices.

“When we thought about who could play Hang Tuah, we all said M. Nasir,’’ recalls Tiara Jacquelina.

But how did Tiara Jacquelina get the plum role of Gusti Putri Retno Dumilah, the princess of Gunung Ledang? The talk of the town then was that she got it – obviously – because the movie was financed by her politician/businessman husband, Datuk Effendi Norwawi.

“Yes, I wanted to play the character, “ explains Tiara Jacquelina, “but we never really set it in stone. We always said that if we came across a name that suited the bill better, then we would have the option to change.

“Later on, after I did much research to flesh her out, she became very interesting. I got to know her character so well that I got very attached to her.’’

Saw, on his part, says the question on many people’s minds was: Why her?

“My reply: Why not her? She is a very good actress (she won the best actress award in the 1995 Malaysian Film Festival for her role as Meera in Ringgit Kasorgga) and she is beautiful. And it is a great role that any actress would want to play. I didn’t see any reason why it should not be her. So that was that.”

As for the rest of the cast, Tiara Jacquelina says they got 90% of the actors on their list. “There was some people who were not on the wish list who turned out to be nice surprises. For example, when we could not fill the role of Sultan Mahmud Shah with the actor we wanted, we found Adlin Aman Ramlie and he has been wonderful. He is such a good actor,’’ she says.